Courses of Study

Sections

An interdepartmental program in Peace, Conflict, and Coexistence Studies

Last updated: July 19, 2013 at 1:38 p.m.

Objectives

Since the end of World War II, peace, conflict, and coexistence studies has emerged as an interdisciplinary area of inquiry drawing on social science, the humanities, the creative arts, and science in efforts to understand reasons for war and possible ways of resolving conflicts without resorting to violence. In the last few years, for many people the primary focus of inquiry is shifting from the Cold War and the nuclear threat to conflict resolution in small and large contexts. Along with the larger goal of ending war altogether, the Brandeis program reflects this tendency.

This is a time to examine the many meanings of "security," to investigate the nature of power and political participation, and to develop ideas and ways of addressing conflicts that honor the integrity of all parties involved. This is a time, in other words, to learn alternatives to violence and a time to learn the ways of disarmament and ending of war.

Learning Goals

From violence to non-violence: Since the end of World War II, Peace Studies has emerged as an interdisciplinary area of inquiry drawing on social science, the humanities, the creative arts, and science in efforts to understand reasons for war and ways of resolving conflicts without resorting to violence. Since the end of the Cold War, the primary focus of inquiry has shifted from US-Soviet relations and the nuclear threat to theories and practices of nonviolent conflict resolution in contexts all the way from nation-states to organizations to interpersonal violence, to violence and peace within the self. Along with the larger goal of ending war altogether, the Brandeis program reflects this tendency.

This is a time to examine the many meanings of “security.” The traditional concept of “national security” means nations each protecting their own “interests” and safety against those of others whose projects they find incompatible and/or competitive with their own. From Peace Studies, we learn the concept of “common security,” meaning that no one is truly safe until everyone is truly safe. It is through cooperation, empathy, and compassion, rather than military might and aggressive free market practices that common security will become possible.

Just as war is an invention that appeared in history about 13,000 years ago, so now is it time to invent peace, peace within nations, peace among nations, peace among peoples, and peace within ourselves.

Toward social justice: We in our field seek to investigate the nature of power, political participation, release from domination and exploitation, and the self’s relation to all this. We seek to develop ideas and nonviolent ways of addressing conflicts that honor the integrity and needs of all parties involved. It is time, in other words, to learn alternatives to violence and a time to learn the ways of ending war.

We distinguish in our field between “negative peace” and “positive peace.” The former simply means a condition of no armed hostilities. Many nations adjoining others exist in a cold peace (or negative peace) with each other. Positive peace means identifying the conditions of antagonism that can lead to war (e.g., differential access to resources, markets, honor, and the necessities of life) and creating ways to end those antagonisms so as to make war illogical and unthinkable.

We also distinguish in our field between “war culture” and “peace culture.” In a sort of anthropological way, all institutions and practices that celebrate and promote violence (e.g., much of the content of media, political and legal systems whose goals are winning rather than justice, fiercely competitive sports, super aggressive economic activities, and the like) constitute war culture. Those that promote and celebrate peace (e.g., cooperation, joint creative activity, empathic and compassionate relations to individuals and collectivities) represent peace culture.

One PAX requirement is a senior honors thesis or an internship. The latter, chosen by most program members, is meant to emphasize the experiential/praxis orientation of the program. Our internship students routinely report the importance of working on PAX issues in the field.

Core Skills: True to its interdisciplinarity, PAX encourages students to learn about war and peace from history, politics, sociology, anthropology, economics, the arts, the humanities, and the sciences. As students take courses in the various disciplines, they learn their methods of inquiry.

It is our expectation that PAX minors and independent PAX majors learn to:

Ask significant questions about how each discipline offers insights and scholarship on issues of war and peace;

Know theoretical approaches to the many disciplines related to our topic and the investigations that follow from them;

Appreciate and understand subjective/emotional/social psychological as well as structural components of social processes and social movements;

Conduct competent original research on war and peace related issues;

Write a senior honors thesis on a peace-related topic or do an internship in a peace-related organization, to exemplify and promote the praxis part of PAX.

Knowledge: We expect that students completing the minor or independent interdisciplinary major in Peace, Conflict, and Coexistence Studies will learn and deepen their understanding of the following:

how war arises in history and how it might end;

a critical analysis of arguments for the inevitability of war and for possibilities of peace;

varieties of ways conflicts have traditionally been solved;

evolving forms of nonviolent conflict resolution and their many successes;

similarities and differences between physical violence and “structural violence” including assaults on the environment;

differences between national security and common security;

the proliferation and complexities of components of war culture;

the proliferation and complexities of components of peace culture;

images and arguments for the possible imminence of paradigm shift, the great turning, the great transformation, and other suggestions that major change, necessary for human survival, may be under way;

the relationship between inner peace and outer peace.

After graduation: Some PAX graduates go on to years and/or careers as social activists. Some do graduate work in nonviolent conflict resolution and wind up working in the field professionally. International students in PAX have commonly returned to their countries and engaged full- or part-time in conflict resolution and other kinds of activist work.

How to Become a Minor

Students who wish to take peace, conflict, and coexistence studies (PAX) as a minor in addition to their major can construct an individually tailored minor in consultation with the PAX program advisers.

Committee

Gordon Fellman, Chair (Sociology)

Steven Burg (Politics)

Cynthia Cohen (International Center for Ethics, Justice, and Public Life)

David Cunningham (Sociology)

Judith Eissenberg
(Music)

Reuven Kimelman (Near Eastern and Judaic Studies)

Richard Parmentier (Anthropology)

Andreas Teuber (Philosophy)

Daniel Terris
(American Studies)

Requirements for the Minor

Students are to take six required courses, configured this way:

A. Two core requirements (comprehensive course or project).

1. SOC 119a (War and Possibilities of Peace).

2. Either PAX 89a or 92a (Internship in Peace, Conflict, and Coexistence Studies) or a senior honors thesis.

The internship consists of at least ten hours a week in a social-change organization in the greater Boston area, elsewhere in the United States, or if the student is abroad, an appropriate equivalent. The intern is supervised by a PAX professor or staff person, keeps a daily journal, presents and does the reading of a bibliography on the topic of the internship and its larger framework, and writes a paper of fifteen to twenty pages at the end of the internship. The student is expected to meet weekly or biweekly with the supervisor and to e-mail weekly or biweekly if doing the work away from Brandeis. Internships are organized around, but not limited to, those we find through the Hiatt Career Center.

Internships in the sociology department (SOC 92a and SOC 89a) with a PAX focus will be evaluated for credit toward the PAX minor on a case-by-case basis.

The senior thesis is undertaken in the student's major, on a topic central to peace, conflict, and coexistence studies. With the department's permission, a member of the PAX faculty committee will serve on and represent the PAX program on the thesis committee.

B. Two or more core electives: at least two courses (and up to four) from this list. Core electives must be taken in at least two different departments.

Core electives include courses that offer critical analyses of violence and nonviolence and that consider information, ideas, and examples of productive ways of resisting violence and working toward peace and justice (what in the peace studies field is called "positive peace," as distinct from "negative peace," which is the absence of war but not of conditions that appear to lead to war). These courses offer perspectives on major institutions and possible alternatives, explore some strategies for change, and encourage students to envision and work toward a world based more on positive peace than on negative peace or war.

C. Maximum of two related electives: No more than two courses from this list can count to meet requirements for the minor, and they must be taken in different departments.

These courses relate directly or indirectly to international, domestic, organizational, intergroup, interpersonal, or personal conflict and also include consideration of perspectives that promote understanding, reconciliation, and transformation. They need not focus on violence and nonviolence, positive peace, or encouraging students to envision positive peace. Students may apply courses from the "core electives" list that they have not taken to fulfill core requirements to this requirement.

D. Students are urged to take at least one course from a school other than social science to fulfill their PAX requirements.

E. Students may petition the PAX committee for special consideration of courses not listed here that the student wishes to propose as appropriate for her/his PAX minor.

Courses of Instruction

(1-99) Primarily for Undergraduate Students

PAX
89a
Internship in Peace, Conflict, and Coexistence Studies
[
wi
]
Prerequisite: Students must complete an eight- to ten-week full-time internship during the summer before the semester in which the student plans to enroll in this course.Weekly seminar for students who have undertaken a summer internship related to peace, conflict, coexistence, and related international issues. Examples of internship sites include arts organizations, international courts and tribunals, human rights organizations, and democracy organizations. Students write extensively about their internship experience in the context of previous academic work that they have done in PAX, politics, anthropology and other disciplines. Usually offered every semester.Mr. Fellman

PAX
92a
Internship in Peace, Conflict, and Coexistence Studies
Usually offered every year.Staff

PAX
98a
Independent Study
Staff

(100-199) For Both Undergraduate and Graduate Students

PAX
120b
Inner Peace and Outer Peace
[
ss
]
Examines the relationship between inner state and effective peacemaking at levels ranging from the self within itself to interpersonal, intergroup, and international relations. Addresses concerns about structural change and the relationship between inner state, peace building, and justice seeking. Usually offered every year.Mr. Gould and Mr. Ungerleider

(200 and above) Primarily for Graduate Students

PAX
250b
The Arts of Building Peace
May not be taken for credit by students who took COEX 250a in prior years.How can music, theater, poetry, literature, and visual arts contribute to community development, coexistence, and nonviolent social change? In the aftermath of violence, how can artists help communities reconcile? Students explore these questions through interviews, case studies, and projects. Usually offered every year.Ms. Cohen

PAX Core Courses

PAX
89a
Internship in Peace, Conflict, and Coexistence Studies
[
wi
]
Prerequisite: Students must complete an eight- to ten-week full-time internship during the summer before the semester in which the student plans to enroll in this course.Weekly seminar for students who have undertaken a summer internship related to peace, conflict, coexistence, and related international issues. Examples of internship sites include arts organizations, international courts and tribunals, human rights organizations, and democracy organizations. Students write extensively about their internship experience in the context of previous academic work that they have done in PAX, politics, anthropology and other disciplines. Usually offered every semester.Mr. Fellman

PAX
92a
Internship in Peace, Conflict, and Coexistence Studies
Usually offered every year.Staff

SOC
119a
Deconstructing War, Building Peace
[
ss
]
Ponders the possibility of a major "paradigm shift" under way from adversarialism and war to mutuality and peace. Examines war culture and peace culture and points in between, with emphases on the role of imagination in social change, growing global interdependence, and political, economic, gender, social class, and social psychological aspects of war and peace. Usually offered every year.Mr. Fellman

PAX Core Elective Courses

ANTH
159a
Museums and Public Memory
[
ss
]
Explores the social and political organization of public memory, including museums, cultural villages, and memorial sites. Who has the right to determine the content and form of such institutions? Working with local community members, students will develop a collaborative exhibition project. Usually offered every second year.Staff

ENVS
18b
International Environmental Conflict and Collaboration
[
ss
]
Studies the development of international environmental law and policy through a historical lens. Examines how early diplomatic initiatives have--and importantly, have not--shaped the contemporary structure of international environmental relations. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Chester

HSSP
102a
Global Perspectives on Health
[
ss
]
A primer on major issues in health care in developing nations. Topics include the natural history of disease and levels of prevention; epidemiological transitions; health disparities; and determinants of health including culture, social context, and behavior. Also covers: infectious and chronic disease incidence and prevalence; the role of nutrition, education, reproductive trends, and poverty; demographic transition including aging and urbanization; the structure and financing of health systems; and the globalization of health. Usually offered every year.Ms. Bhalotra

HSSP
102aj
Global Perspectives on Health
[
ss
]
A primer on major issues in health care. Topics include the natural history of disease and levels of prevention; epidemiological transitions; health disparities; and determinants of health including culture, social context and behavior. Also covers infectious and chronic disease incidence and prevalence; the role of nutrition, education, reproductive trends, and poverty; demographic transition including aging and urbanization; the structure and financing of health systems; and the globalization of health. Offered as part of JBS program.Ms. Bhalotra

LGLS
125b
International Law and Organizations
[
ss
]
Introduction to international law, its nature, sources, and application, for example, its role in the management of international conflicts. Topics may include international agreements, international organizations including the United Nations and the International Court of Justice, states and recognition, nationality and alien rights, territorial and maritime jurisdiction, international claims, and the laws of war and human rights. Usually offered every second year.Staff

LGLS
130a
Conflict Analysis and Intervention
[
oc
ss
]
Examines alternatives to litigation, including negotiation and mediation. Through simulations and court observations, students assess their own attitudes about and skills in conflict resolution. Analyzes underlying theories in criminal justice system, divorce, adoption, and international arena. Usually offered every second year.Ms. Stimell

PAX
120b
Inner Peace and Outer Peace
[
ss
]
Examines the relationship between inner state and effective peacemaking at levels ranging from the self within itself to interpersonal, intergroup, and international relations. Addresses concerns about structural change and the relationship between inner state, peace building, and justice seeking. Usually offered every year.Mr. Gould and Mr. Ungerleider

PAX
250b
The Arts of Building Peace
May not be taken for credit by students who took COEX 250a in prior years.How can music, theater, poetry, literature, and visual arts contribute to community development, coexistence, and nonviolent social change? In the aftermath of violence, how can artists help communities reconcile? Students explore these questions through interviews, case studies, and projects. Usually offered every year.Ms. Cohen

PHIL
19a
Human Rights
[
hum
wi
]
Examines international human rights policies and the moral and political issues to which they give rise. Includes civilians' wartime rights, the role of human rights in foreign policy, and the responsibility of individuals and states to alleviate world hunger and famine. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Teuber

PHIL
111a
What Is Justice?
[
hum
]
Prerequisite: One course in philosophy or political theory or permission of the instructor. What is justice and what does justice require? The course examines theories of justice, both classical and contemporary. Topics include liberty and equality, "who gets what and how much," welfare- and resource-based principles of justice, justice as a virtue, liberalism, multiculturalism, and globalization. Usually offered every second year.Ms. Smiley

POL
127b
Seminar: Managing Ethnic Conflict
[
ss
wi
]
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or higher.Comparative study of the sources and character of interethnic conflict, with emphasis on the processes by which groups become politicized, and the strategies and techniques for managing conflict in a democratic system. Usually offered every year.Mr. Burg

POL
128a
The Politics of Revolution: State Violence and Popular Insurgency in the Third World
[
nw
ss
]
Introduction to twentieth-century revolutionary movements in the Third World, focusing on the emergence of peasant-based resistance and revolution in the world beyond the West, and on the role of state violence in provoking popular involvement in protest, rebellion, and insurgency. Usually offered every year.Mr. Thaxton

SOC
112b
Social Class and Social Change
[
ss
]
This is an experiential learning course. Presents the role of social class in determining life chances, lifestyles, income, occupation, and power; theories of class, inequality, and globalization; selected social psychological aspects of social class and inequality; and connections of class, race, and gender. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Fellman

SOC
153a
The Sociology of Empowerment
[
ss
]
This is an experiential learning course. Course does not participate in early registration. Attendance at first class meeting mandatory. Students selected by essay, interview, and lottery. This class combines reading, exercises, journal keeping, and retreats (including a weekend one) to address activism and how sociological constructs affect feelings of helplessness, futility, hope, vision, efficacy, hurt, fear, and anger. Usually offered every year.Mr. Fellman

WMGS
5a
Women and Gender in Culture and Society
[
ss
]
This interdisciplinary course introduces central concepts and topics in the field of women's and gender studies. Explores the position of women in diverse settings and the impact of gender as a social, cultural, and intellectual category in the United States and around the globe. Asks how gendered institutions, behaviors, and representations have been configured in the past and function in the present, and also examines the ways in which gender intersects with many other vectors of identity and circumstance in forming human affairs. Usually offered every fall and spring.Ms. Fox, Ms. Freeze, Ms. Lanser, or Ms. Singh

PAX Related Elective Courses

AAAS
60a
Economics of Third World Hunger
[
nw
ss
]
Employs the tools of social science, particularly economics, to study causes and potential solutions to problems in production, trade, and consumption of food in the underdeveloped world. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Nyangoni

AAAS
80a
Economy and Society in Africa
[
nw
ss
wi
]
Perspectives on the interaction of economic and other variables in African societies. Topics include the ethical and economic bases of distributive justice; models of social theory, efficiency, and equality in law; the role of economic variables in the theory of history; and world systems analysis. Usually offered every third year.Mr. Nyangoni

AAAS
85a
Survey of Southern African History
[
nw
ss
]
Explores the roots of segregation and apartheid in South Africa, the development of a regional political economy dominated by South Africa, labor migrancy and land alienation in southern Africa, and the rise of African and Afrikaaner nationalisms. Usually offered every second year.Staff

AAAS
123a
Third World Ideologies
[
nw
ss
wi
]
Analyzes ideological concepts developed by seminal Third World political thinkers and their application to modern political analysis. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Nyangoni

AAAS
126b
Political Economy of the Third World
[
nw
ss
wi
]
Development of capitalism and different roles and functions assigned to all "Third Worlds," in the periphery as well as the center. Special attention will be paid to African and Afro-American peripheries. Usually offered every year.Mr. Nyangoni

AMST
45b
Violence (and Nonviolence) in American Culture
[
ss
]
May not be taken for credit by students who took AMST 175a in prior years.Studies the use of terror and violence by citizens and governments in the domestic history of the United States. What are the occasions and causes of violence? How is it imagined, portrayed, and explained in literature? Is there anything peculiarly American about violence in America--nonviolence and pacifism? Usually offered every second year.Mr. Cohen

ANTH
129b
Global, Transnational, and Diasporic Communities
[
ss
]
Examines the social and cultural dimensions of globalization from an anthropological perspective. It starts by critically engaging with more fundamental concepts such as state, identity, and movement. It then proceeds to debate the various contributions that anthropologists have presented to the understanding of human life in global, transnational, and diasporic contexts. Topics to be discussed include place, migration, religion, global sexual cultures, kinship, and technology—all within a global perspective. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Anjaria, Ms. Ferry or Ms. Lamb

ANTH
136a
Archaeology of Power: Authority, Prestige, and Inequality in the Past
[
nw
ss
]
Anthropological and archaeological research and theory provide a unique, long-term perspective on the development of inequality and rise of hierarchical societies, including the earliest ancient states such as the Moche, Maya, China, Sumerians, Egyptians, and others through 5000 years of human history. A comparative, multidisciplinary seminar examining the dynamics of authority, prestige, and power in the past, and the implications for understanding the present . Usually offered every second year.Mr. Golden

ANTH
139b
Language, Ethnicity, and Nationalism
[
ss
]
It is often assumed that language differences divide people, while a common language unites them. To what extent is this true? Taking cross-cultural and historical approaches, we examine the role of language in creating concepts of tribe, ethnicity, and nation. Explores what kinds of social groupings these terms might label, some ideologies connected with their use, and their relationship with communication systems. Usually offered every second year.Ms. McIntosh

ANTH
156a
Power and Violence: The Anthropology of Political Systems
[
nw
ss
]
Political orders are established and maintained by varying combinations of overt violence and the more subtle workings of ideas. The course examines the relationship of coercion and consensus, and forms of resistance, in historical and contemporary settings. Usually offered every second year. Ms. Ferry

BIOL
17b
Conservation Biology
[
sn
]
No longer writing intensive beginning spring 2013.Considers the current worldwide loss of biological diversity, causes of this loss, and methods for protecting and conserving biodiversity. Explores biological and social aspects of the problems and their solutions. Usually offered every year.Mr. D.L. Perlman

BUS
70a
Business in the Global Economy
[
ss
]
Prerequisite: BUS 10a.Modern firms frequently cross national borders to find new markets and resources. Their strategies are then shaped by the international economy and by the policies of national governments. Using case discussion, students explore why and how U.S., Japanese, and European firms operate outside their home countries. Usually offered every year.Mr. Lopez

COML
165a
Reading, Writing, and Teaching across Cultures
[
hum
nw
wi
]
Examines contemporary literary representations of literacy, schooling, and language from a cross-cultural perspective. Students also analyze their own educational trajectories and experiences with writing and reading. Usually offered every year.Ms. Hale

ECON
57a
Environmental Economics
[
ss
]
Prerequisite: ECON 2a or 10a.Investigates the theoretical and policy problems posed by the use of renewable and nonrenewable resources. Theoretical topics include the optimal pricing of resources, the optimal use of standards and taxes to correct pollution problems under uncertainty, and the measurement of costs and benefits. Usually offered every year.Ms. Bui

ECON
175a
Introduction to the Economics of Development
[
ss
]
Prerequisite: ECON 2a or 10a or permission of the instructor. Does not count toward the upper-level elective requirement for the major in economics. An introduction to various models of economic growth and development and evaluation of these perspectives from the experience of developing and industrial countries. Usually offered every year.Staff

ED
158b
Looking with the Learner: Practice and Inquiry
This is an experiential learning course. Does not satisfy a school distribution requirement--for education studies core course credit only. Lab fee: $40.Inquiry and exploration in the visual arts have the capacity to develop the creative problem solving essential to both teaching and learning. Students will work in different media, examine interpretations of art, reflect in journals, and teach children about contemporary art. Students will complete a twelve-hour practicum as part of this course. Usually offered every year.Ms. Miller

ED
159b
Philosophy of Education
[
ss
]
Explores several major issues in philosophy of education through close examination and discussion of recent theoretical texts. Issues include the goals of education; the rights of the state to foster civic virtue; multiculturalism; moral education; the problem of indoctrination; education for autonomy, rationality, critical thinking, and open-mindedness. Usually offered every second year. Mr. Levisohn

ENG
17a
Alternative and Underground Journalism
[
hum
]
A critical history of twentieth-century American journalism. Topics include the nature of journalistic objectivity, the style of underground and alternative periodicals, and the impact of new technologies on independent media. Usually offered every third year.Ms. Irr

ENVS
17b
Global Warming and Nuclear Winter
[
sn
]
Prerequisite: high school-level math and science course work.Global climate change is the biggest challenge now facing the planet, equal to the nuclear war threat of the past half-century. This course examines the characteristics of these two major threats and looks for possible responses to climate change. Usually offered every year.Mr. Tsipis

HIST
139b
Fascism East and West
[
ss
]
A comparative analysis of dictatorship in Europe, Japan, and Latin America during the twentieth century. Topical emphasis on the social origins, mass culture, and political organization of authoritarian regimes. Usually offered every third year.Ms. Kelikian

HIST
186b
A Global History of the Vietnam Wars
[
ss
wi
]
A reading and research seminar on the American involvement in Vietnam. Focuses on teaching the history of America's longest war, as well as improving the student's ability to write a research paper using source materials. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Engerman

LGLS
120a
Sex Discrimination and the Law
[
ss
]
Traces the evolution of women's rights in the family, in employment, and in the reproductive process, as well as constitutional doctrines. Examines gender inequalities and assesses if and how the law should address them. Legal cases studied emphasize how law reflects society. Usually offered every third year.Staff

LGLS
124b
International Law and Development
[
nw
ss
]
Surveys public and private forms of international law with special application to developing countries, and to political and social development in the global economy. Examines basic legal concepts of property, contract, and rule of law in the context of national and cultural transformations. Usually offered every second year.Staff

NEJS
137a
The Destruction of European Jewry
[
hum
]
Open to all students.Why did the Jews become the subject of genocidal hatred? A systematic examination of the anti-Jewish genocide planned and executed by Nazi Germany and the Jewish and general responses to it. Usually offered every year.Mr. Polonsky

NEJS
189a
The Arab-Israeli Conflict
[
hum
ss
]
Consideration of Arab-Jewish relations, attitudes, and interactions from 1880 to the present. Emphasis on social factors and intellectual currents and their impact on politics. Examines the conflict within its international setting. Usually offered every third year. Staff

NEJS
190a
Describing Cruelty
[
hum
wi
]
Grapples with the difficult subject of cruelty. Focus is on political or public cruelty in the non-Western world with a particular emphasis on the modern Middle East. The method is comparative and involves critical examination of the intellectual, visual, and literary works that engage with the phenomenon. Usually offered every second year.Mr. Makiya

PHIL
20a
Social and Political Philosophy: Democracy and Civil Resistance
[
hum
wi
]
Focuses on the relation of the individual to the state and, in particular, on the theory and practice of nonviolent resistance, its aims, methods, achievements, and legitimacy. Examines the nature of obligation and the role of civil disobedience in a democratic society. Explores the conflict between authority and autonomy and the grounds for giving one's allegiance to any state at all. Examples include opposition to the nuclear arms race, and disobedience in China and Northern Ireland and at abortion clinics. Usually offered every second year. Mr. Teuber

POL
15a
Introduction to International Relations
[
ss
]
Open to first-year students.General introduction to international politics, emphasizing the essential characteristics of the international system as a basis for understanding the foreign policy of individual countries. Analysis of causes of war, conditions of peace, patterns of influence, the nature of the world's political economy, global environmental issues, human rights, and prospects for international organizations. Open to first-year students. Usually offered every semester.Mr. Art or Mr. Chase

POL
144a
Latin American Politics I
[
nw
ss
]
Revolution, order, and regime transition in northern Latin America. Specific examination of the Mexican and Cuban revolutions and their outcomes. POL 144a is independent of POL 144b. Usually offered every year. Mr. Hindley

POL
144b
Latin American Politics II
[
nw
ss
]
Emphasis on elite control, the military, the political role of populist politics, and the uncertain process of democratization. Brazil and Argentina are examined specifically. POL 144b is independent of POL 144a. Usually offered every year.Mr. Hindley

PSYC
135b
Seminar in Social Cognition
[
ss
]
Prerequisites: PSYC 1a, 34b, 51a, 52a, and permission of the instructor.Considers the general nature of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination, theoretical explanations for these phenomena, and methods for assessing them. Specific examples of stereotyping are discussed in light of research methods and theoretical issues. Attention is given to stereotype accuracy, self-fulfilling prophecy effects, and mechanisms for coping with stereotypes. Usually offered every third year.Ms. Zebrowitz

SAS
130a
Film and Fiction of Crisis
[
hum
nw
]
Examines novels and films as a response to some pivotal crisis in South Asia: Independence and Partition, Communal Riots, Insurgency and Terrorism. We will read and analyze texts from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka in an effort to examine how these moments of crisis have affected literary and cinematic form while also paying close attention to how they contest or support the narrative of the unified nation. Usually offered every third year.Ms. Singh

SOC
157a
Sociology of the Israeli-Palestinian Confrontation
[
ss
]
An introduction to Jewish and Palestinian nationalisms; relevant sociological, political, religious, and resource issues; social psychological dimensions; and the conflict in world politics. Usually offered every second year. Mr. Fellman